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Research Interests

I am interested in how phytoplankton (microscopic algae) cycle nutrients within the
upper ocean where light penetrates. My research focuses on the ecology of diatoms,
a group of phytoplankton. Diatomshave a characteristic shell made of amorphous silica (SiO2-nH2O), which is more dense than the seawater they live (i.e. diatoms sink). They have
a global distribution in both marine and freshwater environments and can occur in
very high numerical abundances.

Their cumulative global contribution to primary production is similar to that of the
rain forests

They are important players in the oceanic cycles of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Silicon

The sinking of diatom silica, and their associated organic matter, is a major component
of the "Biological Pump"

The production and cycling of diatom silica plays a fundamental role in regulating
the exchange of CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere

Marine cyanobacteria and Silicon?

Recently, I have also worked on examining the role of picocyanobacteria in the global
Silicon cycle, specifically those from the genus Synechococcus. Photosynthetic cyanobacteria,
primarily from the genre Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus, are the most abundant photosynthetic organisms on earth and generally the most abundant
members of the phytoplankton community. Recently, our Nature Geoscience paper demonstrates that laboratory cultures and field cells (from eastern equatorial Pacific
and Sargasso Sea) of Synechococcus accumulate elemental Silicon and we suggest that
"picocyanobacteria may exert a previously unrecognized influence on the oceanic silicon
cycle, especially in nutrient-poor waters." A collaboration of scientists at Stony
Brook University, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, UCSB and DISL, are currently
funded by the National Science Foundation to examine the variability in Silicon quotas for cultured clones and field cells
of Synechococcus and quantify their potential contribution to the rate which silica
is produced in the open ocean (work with the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study program).